


Scrawls

by flintxwood



Series: The Big Gay Harry Potter Soulmate AU [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-09
Updated: 2017-05-09
Packaged: 2018-10-29 22:44:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10863627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flintxwood/pseuds/flintxwood
Summary: Flint’s been acting off, Oliver noticed. And everyone is far too excited that he’s going to find out his soulmate’s name.





	Scrawls

Oliver wasn't entirely sure when it started but at some point in his fifth year, Flint started acting off. He seemed to avoid picking petty fights for the most part. All he'd really done that year was try to get his team's practice time even though he'd booked it for his team. It was just like Flint to use Snape's favouritism to get their practice time. 

But that was it. He hadn't had much encounters with him since. And they wouldn't really as Flint was a year ahead of him. But any time they were near each other, Flint would avoid looking at him. He used to make a big show out of egging him on, trying to get to his short temper and riling him up. That was their relationship. Not pretending like he didn't exist. Maybe it was just his new way to piss him off. 

There were more important things to worry about than Flint anyway. His seventeenth birthday was coming up and that'll mean his soulmates name will be someplace on his skin in their handwriting. He was excited but he wouldn't let it distract him from Quidditch. 

Of course, he did have the natural curiosity of wondering who his soulmate could be. He’d thought about it plenty of times, eyeing person to person. Percy’s birthday had passed and Oliver had some blind panic it was him but Percy had told him it was some girl named Audrey, so he quickly forgot about it. His own birthday was still a couple of weeks away, and the nerves were kind of building up. He wondered if he already knew them, or if there would be some time until he met. It’d be weird asking each person he encountered with his soulmates name what the name etched onto their skin was. But maybe that was half the journey. 

He did wonder what it’d mean if it was someone he already knew. If they were someone he was already close to or another name to him. If they’d already had their mark and hadn’t told them out of the rational fear who they thought their soulmate was, wasn’t actually who they thought it was. But the universe had some plan, and he’d find his soulmate surely.

But despite that, Quidditch was his main focus. They’d won against Slytherin in the first game. It was Flint’s own fault for replacing Higgs for the Malfoy kid simply for Nimbus 2001s, pip squeak didn’t even realise the Snitch was right next to his head while he was tormenting Harry. Flint had a go at Malfoy for that, likely regretting his decision. Oliver had tried to goad him for that but he was always met with a narrowed eyes and a cold glare. His cunning grey eyes were perfect for that. With the trollish appearance. The joke that Flint had troll blood was nothing new. Even remarks that stated pity for his soulmate. It was the most common jab at him but he deflected them easily. He wouldn’t expect Flint to give a damn about what he looked like or what people thought of him. Oliver would be lying if he said he didn’t find that at least a little admirable. Flint’s ability to not care about other’s opinions was the type of thing he wished he was able to have the capacity to do. 

Uh, aside from that he was an insufferable git. But it was confusing how he’d seemed to forget that their relationship was jeers and arguments and spats, leading to eye rolls from their teams. It was routine, it was their normal. Taking that out just felt so out of place. Especially since Flint seemed to be normal in every other aspect. Barrelling down the corridor, not caring if he slammed into someone. Bludging in the corridors between classes, and probably when he was supposed to be in class. Cackling with his fellow Slytherins. Directing Trip Jinx’s at other students, usually Gryffindors. The same Flint he’d seen since his first year. Typical Slytherin bully archetype, the kind his father groaned about in his youth. Slytherin were definitely the sorts that cared about their housemates rather than everyone else. Oliver figured the ‘you’ll make your true friends’ spoke a lot of truth. He just didn’t understand why being a wanker seemed to be part of that.

Nevertheless, he just continued with his day as usual. He made his way to Potions with Percy, dodging first years rushing to class and half listening to Percy ramble about the essay he had to write for Astronomy. Oliver was too bust rehearsing plays in his head to listen completely. He knew Percy preferred someone to talk at rather than someone to listen, so it was a win-win for them. Oliver wasn’t the best listener in the world. 

He heard laughter and his eyes drifted to where Flint was sitting with Shunpike. They were eating Every Flavour Beans, laughing when the other gaged at a gross flavour. He could recognise Flint’s laugh anywhere. Deep and a little maniacal. Like he was laughing at something that was a bad tasting bean. 

He could see those stupid piercings glimmering. The stud in his brow, ring in his septum, and the multiple in his ears. It was just like Flint to get piercings while they were still at school. Not that they looked bad, they suited him. 

He thought about sending a goad, try to stir him up a little. It was still weird to pass Flint without some sort of jab. He searched his mind for some sort of crude remark, something to get a response that was more than a glare. 

“Oliver,” Percy’s voice cut in. He glanced at Shunpike giving him a questioning look. “Leave it.”

“Leave what?” he asked, raising his brow at him.

“Leave stirring Flint up for later, last thing you two need is to get into a brawl leading to detention.” 

They’d already passed Flint and his Shunpike so there was no point in going back. A brawl could be saved for another time.

…

“We should do something for your birthday,” Alicia said, buttering her toast. 

“Like what?” Oliver asked, getting some strawberries to put on his pancakes. Alicia, Katie, and Angelina were sat across from him, Percy on his side.

“We could go to the Three Broomsticks,” Katie said. “Have a get together and all.” 

He shrugged, giving a small nod. They were making it a bigger deal than it was, sure this year was more meaningful than others but he didn’t want to put too much emphasis on it. He just wanted to get it over and done with, just find out his soulmates stupid name. His birthday wasn’t until that Monday anyway, and the Hogsmeade trip was only on the Saturday. Everyone else seemed far more excited about him getting his soulmate than he was. He wasn’t not curious but why did who the universe has decided was perfect for him so important? 

He put up with it though, they meant well. He was the first on their squad to get their soulmate. They weren’t on the team when Charlie turned seventeen but he hadn’t gotten a mark, and he seemed to be okay with it. Charlie said something about not being interested in being with anyone anyway. Oliver had a shameless crush on him in his earlier years so that did break his heart a little, even though he knew it’d never happen in the first place. 

Still, they were far too excited. It’s like they were expecting his soulmate to just appear in front of him when he turned seventeen. 

When he had to get to class with Percy he felt something hit the back of his head. He glanced back and saw a crumpled bit of parchment on the floor, and afar he could see Flint snickering with is Shunpike. Oliver rolled his eyes and went to walk away but he heard Percy mutter, “Pick it up, you know he won’t.”

He huffed and picked up the stupid piece of scrunched parchment. He stretched it out see the note scrawled in absolute chicken scratch on it. 

Wanker. 

He looked back at Flint and saw the amused look on his face. He rolled his eye and shoved it into his pocket. 

…

Oliver mostly in his own head while they all went out for his birthday. It was fun spending time with everyone at the three broomsticks but for some reason that’s when it really hit him he’d be finding out who his soulmate was soon. It was a little exciting, he guessed. Even if all he got was a name. He was a little curious if he already knew them. He was even more curious if his soulmate already knew. 

He left the Three Broomsticks with Percy, trudging through the early December snow. Percy went into his typical mode of talking at Oliver while Oliver let himself get into his own head. He tried to think of the best ways for the team to practice while it was snowing. 

At least he was until a snowball hit him in the back of the head. 

He heard Flint’s familiar laugh and rolled his eyes, doing his best to ignore him. And he would’ve been successful if he hadn’t heard the crunching of snow. Despite Percy’s mutters to just ignore him, he turned to see Flint walking up to him. It was fucked he was a little happy he was paying attention to him and not ignoring him.

“What do you want Flint?” he grumbled. “Or did you just want to throw shit at me again?”

He gave him a grin, his crooked teeth clear. It wasn’t meant to be friendly, it was meant to stir him up. Oliver almost smiled. There was the normal between them. There was the goading he was used to. “What? I needed to get your attention somehow.” He rocked on his heels, his hands in his pockets. “What are you two Gryffindors up to anyway?”

“Just when to the Three Broomsticks for my birthday,” Oliver shrugged.

Something flashed in Flint’s eyes, the teasing smile wiping off his face. “It’s your birthday?”

“Monday,” he corrected. 

“Some people meet up with friends Flint, some of us have them,” Percy said behind him. “Where’s Shunpike?” 

Flint shrugged. “Studying.”

“And why aren’t you?” Oliver asked, raising his brow. It was just so damn typical of Flint to give little care to school.

“Gotta work on plays to make sure we win the cup, Wood.”

Yeah, that sounded like Flint. “Don’t even know how you can read your plays when five year olds have better hand writing than you.”

Flint frowned. His grey eyes weren’t piercing, they were unsure. “Whatever Wood, just make sure your plays are at least a little good enough for when we kick your arse.”

Before he could shoot anything back, Flint turned and left. 

Well he guessed Flint was back to how he previously was. 

“What’s with him?” Percy asked when he turned back to him, Percy looking curiously over his shoulder at the direction Flint had walked. 

“That’s what I’ve been trying to say,” he said. “He’s been acting off.”

“Why do you care though?” Percy asked. “It’s weird but why does it matter if he’s acting weird?”

Because they’d had an argumentative relationship since he joined the team in his second year. Because it only got more intense when he became captain the previous year. Because Flint was a confrontational person but that seemed to shift at some point. Because this wasn’t the normal he was used to with him.

“I don’t know,” he settled on. “Unlike him.”

“Yeah but who cares.”

He nodded. Yeah, who cared?

…

Percy had already gone to sleep so Oliver was on his own as he waited for his soulmate’s name to appear. It was coming on to 12am and he was waiting for the prickle on his skin, as if that part of his body had fallen asleep. 

It was weird how his mind ran through all the possible people it could be. So many names popped into his mind as he waited patiently. He thought of people who hadn’t turned seventeen yet, who could possibly be his soulmate. A piece of him did hope he was the first to know, to not have a soulmate who waited for him get his own. But that was a common theme. It could really be anyone. Probably someone who could handle his passion for Quidditch, even better, someone who was just as passionate. He couldn’t think of someone in his life that’d fit that mould. 

He felt the skin on the inner side of his left forearm prickle. His heart raced, waiting for the prickle to cease, too scared to look until it was over. Even when it went away, he was too nervous to look, sweat prickling on his forehead.

He knew he had to though.

He took a deep breath and pulled up his sleeve to see the mark. It was clear in the dim light.

Even then he felt like he had to have misread it. He couldn’t be seeing what he thought. He gaped at his arm, staring at the familiar chicken scratch of a mark.

Marcus  
  
…

Oliver tried to figure out what he was going to do. He had to confront Flint about this. 

He knew. The bastard knew for god knew how long. And he hadn’t fucking told him. 

At least his behaviour finally made sense. They were fucking soulmates.

The universe had a sick sense of humour. 

When he was walking to class with Percy, Flint was in his usual spot with Shunpike. He had to stop himself from giving him a look, to indicate he knew. To tell him about the stupid mark he could practically feel burning on his skin. 

But he kept his eyes forward, not letting them stray. As much as he wanted to. To just have the chance to yell his frustrations at him. 

But as if the bastard read his mind he felt something land in his pocket. Something that definitely was a piece of parchment. He glanced over his shoulder slightly back at Flint. His wand was out but he seemed to be listening to something Shunpike was saying. 

He turned away and took out the piece of parchment. Percy was rambling about something so he was distracted enough to read the note.

He carefully unfolded it and in the same scrawl on his arm was one simple line.

Meet me in the seventh floor’s left corridor at six 

He knew he knew.

…

The corridors weren’t as warm as the common room, Oliver almost went back to his room to lay under the sheets in its warmth, just not wanting to face him. But he had to. Of course he had to.

He wasn’t sure why he chose the seventh floor, he had to get up from the dungeons. Maybe it was because it was so out of the way.

He found him fidgeting in the corridor, clearly too nervous to even attempt to keep still. He cleared his throat to get his attention and he saw him jump. Flint’s grey eyes stared at him. Not cold. Not cunning. Not intimidating. 

Scared. Soft. Unsure. That’s what he was getting from those all too familiar eyes. 

He opened his mouth to speak but Flint got there first. “There’s uh… a room we can go to.”

Before Oliver could reply, Flint turned to go further down the corridor. Confused, he followed him, and stopped when he saw a doorway forming. 

Room of Requirement. He’d heard rumours of it but it seemed too unreal to be true. Flint opened the door and Oliver hastily followed, not sure exactly what to expect.

What he saw was a love seat by a fireplace, a blanket placed over the back of the loveseat. It was ready for two people to cuddle and forget the world. Maybe that was what they needed. 

When he closed the door behind him, he forced himself to look at Flint. Flint at the same nervous stance, fidgeting on his feet. The only virtue was the warmth of the fireplace but something in him was pushing him to pull Flint onto the love seat, wrap the blanket around the two of them and cuddle, not thinking of anything else in the world. 

But maybe working things out should come first. If they did. He still wasn’t sure if he wanted to. 

The silence between them was deafening, the tension thick. He wanted to yell at him for not telling him but he couldn’t bring himself to. Flint just looked… soft, vulnerable, even a little guilty. So he let him break the silence.

“Happy birthday.” He spoke softly, clearly wanting to tread the waters lightly. But he didn’t want to stall, he wanted to get right to what they were here for. 

“You knew.” He knew his tone was harsh but this was the closest to yelling he was going to get. He couldn’t bother to use the energy. 

“Fine,” he huffed, finally addressing what they were there for. “I knew.”

“And you didn’t tell me?”

Flint took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he did. “What did you expect me to say, Wood?”

“Something! Not avoid me and make it very fucking obvious something was off.”

“So you wanted me to go up to you and tell you ‘hey, I know you hate my guts and all but we’re soulmates’.”

He swallowed. “I don’t hate you.” Because it was true. He didn’t hate the guy. He was annoyed by him and he knew exactly how to stir him up but he didn’t hate him. 

“Well, I don’t hate you ether,” Flint replied, clearly surprised by his response. “But still, us? It’s…” he trailed off.

He nodded. “Universe has a sick sense of humour.”

Flint snorted. “Yeah,” he replied. “Sure you would’ve liked a better soulmate.”

“You’re not… awful,” he replied, scratching the back of his neck. 

“You know I hear what people say about me,” he said. “Pitying my soulmate and all.”

“You don’t seem particularly hurt by it,” he replied, cocking his head to the side. 

He shrugged. “I don’t really care what people think of me,” he said. “People can say what they want. I look bad with the piercings, I look like I have troll blood, I don’t care. I don’t care about the people who say it so why should I care what they think?”

He expected it from Flint, he really did. And he liked that about Flint a lot. 

“Look, we don’t have to be together, I did just want to talk this out,” Flint said. “I uh… I get if you don’t really want to be with me.” 

Oliver licked his lips. “I didn’t say that, it’s just real surprising I guess.” 

A small smile tugged on his lips. “Me part or bloke part.”

He returned the smile. “Bloke part fine, I’m gay anyway.”

“Oh good,” he laughed lightly. “That saves a step.” 

Oliver licked his lips. “Guess I need to wrap my head around it being you. You’ve had far more time to process than I have.”

Flint chewed his lip. “Bringing that up again, great,” he coughed awkwardly. “I’m sorry, should’ve said that before. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I know it’s a piss poor excuse but I had a difficult time processing it. Plus, you aren’t too bad on the eyes so I didn’t know how’d I got you.”

His cheeks tinted a little pink at the unexpected compliment. “Well, you’re not as bad looking as everyone says.”

He felt a little pride when he saw the smallest of smiles accompanied by pink cheeks on Flint’s face. “Well that’s nice to hear,” he cleared his throat. “Where was you soulmate mark? Mine’s on my collarbone.” He tugged the collar of his robe and in his hand writing he saw his name right over the bone.

“Mine’s on my forearm,” he said and pulled his sleeve up to show him the mark. 

“Merlin my hand writing is bad,” Flint laughed when he leaned forward to it. 

“Couldn’t be at least a little neat?” he teased, small smile on his lips when he pulled his sleeve down. 

“Well sweetheart I’m dyslexic, we tend to not have the best hand writing in the world.”

He ignored the surprising pet name in exchange for the new information. “You’re dyslexic?”

“Yeah, my mums a muggle born and my aunt picked up on it.”

“Wait, you’re a half blood?”

An amused smile crossed his lips. “Yeah, pissed off my dad’s side of the family.” 

“Seem to be learning a lot about you tonight,” Oliver said. 

“Well, you don’t know a lot about me to begin with. And I don’t really know much about you.”

The love seat ended up being useful. They didn’t do anything physical really, just talked and let their knees press together, allowing themselves to actually get to know each other. 

He’d loved cats ever since he was five.

His favourite subject was Potions since it was so hands on.

He wanted to play for Montrose and dreamed of playing for England.

His valued friendship above everything. 

Oliver was coming to realise there was so little he knew about Flint but he was also someone he could listen to forever.

…

The Room of Requirement became a sort of meeting place for them. They got the cosy room each time, that particular night there was a bottle of champagne when he got to the room. Marcus was already there and smiled when he saw him. 

“Did you sneak that in?” Oliver asked, sitting next to him on the love seat, nodding towards the champagne. 

He shook his head. “No, it was here when I got here. Want some?”

He smiled and nodded and Marcus leaned forward to pour the two glasses sat on the table. He handed the glass to him and he smiled taking a sip. 

It’d been a weird few weeks. They were taking it slow, trying to get used to the idea they’re apparently destined for each other before really jumping to snogging. They hadn’t told anyone they were soulmates yet. They weren’t really sure when they would. 

That didn’t really matter. Because he could only focus on Marcus. Marcus playing with his hair. Marcus shuffling closer to press his lips to his neck. Oliver smiled and turned his head to him, nudging his nose against his. 

Gently, their lips found their way between each other and it felt like the most natural thing in the world. He let his fingers find their way to his hair as Marcus pulled him to his lap, holding him gently on the hips. 

He couldn’t concentrate on anything but the fact Marcus’s tongue was in his mouth. 

And nothing felt more right.

…

Percy and the team’s shocked faces when he told the was something Oliver will find amusing for probably the rest of his life.


End file.
